Majority Mutuels Grab Grand Circuit Events, Bettor’s Wish, Gimpanzee Romp; Top Win Prices For Week $29, $23

Sunday, Aug. 18 The Tioga stakes included two obvious public choice, which we endorsed: McWicked ($2.70, $2.20, $2.10) and Shartin N ($2.10, n/p, n/s). The Empire Breeders Classics for soph pacers gave us two fifth-place finishers, World On Edge (34-1) and D D Delicious, beaten by the public’s second and first choices, respectively. Thursday, Aug. 22 At Hoosier in sires-stakes action, we had two winners in three races. In the first division we won with Seventimesacharm ($13.40, $7.80, $4.20). In the second we were fifth with Fancy Riggins (12-1) to the second choice. We won the third with the big favorite Foxx Rigger ($2.40, $2.10, $2.10 ok). Two Pennsylvania Sires Stakes (PASS) at Philly were won by the public’s second choices. We finished fifth with Primrose (40-1) and sixth with Dance Club (34-1). At Yonkers, our first of two contenders in New York Sires Stakes (NYSS), Sorprese, scratched. In the second event we gave a cold but small exacta with Hynoptic AM ($2.40, $2.10 n/s) on top and Seventimesalady ($2.30, n/s) second. The exacta paid $3.80). Friday, Aug. 23 At Batavia, soph-filly trotters were easily handled by the public choice in a NYSS mile with our choice, With Out A Doubt ($3.20) finishing third. At WoMo in Canada, we addressed two Casual Breeze splits. Our main choice, Oaks’ winner Whendovescry scratched since trainer Rene Allard horses are still barred from competition (why she was listed is still a mystery). The favorite won and we took second with Special Honor ($5.30, $3.80), producing an exacta worth $12.10. We could not close the triple deal, as our exotic probable, Southwind Casha (4-1) finished sixth. The second split saw the favorite break and the second choice (bet-back Evident Beauty) win while we finished fourth with Bright Eyes (24-1) Saturday, Aug. 24 Gimpanzee won the NYSS, as expected, but he so overwhelmed the competition at post time that there was no win betting, only exactas. The winning exacta was $8.60, which is not much considering every other colt in the field was over 100-1. At The Red Mile, Kentucky Sires Stakes (KYSS) action featured a quartet of soph-colt-and-filly trotter bet-back—all finishing second. For the colts, the place finishers were Pilot Discretion ($2.80, $2.60) and Guaranteed ($5.00, $3.80). The fillies first KYSS split was blown out with a 100-1 winner, with our horse, Asiago ($2.10, $2.10 ok) in second. The other filly split was won by the public’s second choice while our gal Queen Of Trix ($2.60, $2.20) finished second. Our Maple Leaf Trot elim probable pair faltered. We finished sixth with Cruzado Dela Noche (17-1) to the race favorite, and fifth with Emoticon Hanover (30-1) to their second choice. The single Nassagaweya was won by the obvious crowd’s choice, while our possible upset, Team Best (103-1), finished ninth. BREEDERS CROWN COUNTDOWN A pair of PASS soph-colt pacing episodes at the Meadows began with a 21-1 shot beating the favorite and our Love Me Some Lou (32-1), who finished sixth. Then, we were second as the favorite beat our contender, Captain Victorious ($2.20, $2.10) for an exacta worth $6.40. Bettor’s Wish won the non-betting elim for the Messenger, as predicted by the world’s population of harness handicappers. In the second elim our contender, Waterway (n/s), finished third, making the final field. H2W LIST RESULTS The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Also, exactas listed are included when a H2W horse finishes second with a race favorite or the first two finishers making up the exacta are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses were listed to complete a cold exacta). The note “ok” determines that prices published are correct even when a show price exceeds a place price or any or all of the prices are the same. This week, there were 53 active horses (a 17-percent win hit rate and a 45-percent ATB [across-the-board] hit rate). Please note that some H2W results reflect win, place, show and exotic results occurring by press time but some horses race after the blog is posted (we list them the following weeks) It is up to you to follow horses that have not performed before this weekly review. Winners Frontloader, $29.60, $5.80, $3.80, Scioto Ideal Feeling, $23.00, $4.80, $4.00, Hoosier He’s Packin, $8.20, $3.20, $3.00, Meadows Century Grizzly, $5.60, $3.20, $2.50, WoMo Lyons Snyder, $5.60, $2.80, $2.10, Scioto Marjorette Angie, $4.80, $3.40, $2.30, Yonkers DJ Lance, $3.80, $2.80, $2.60, Hawthorne CR Blazin Beauty, $3.60, $2.40, $2.20, Batavia U S Captain, $3.50, $2.70, $2.20, Yonkers Seconds Sea Of Life, $8.60, $4.00, Red Mile Devious Hanover, $8.20, $5.60, Pocono Hurrikane Bunny, $4.60, $2.80, Scarborough Sylvia Trench, $3.20, n/s, Plainridge BN Hopeful, $2.80, $2.20, Ocean Camtizzy, $2.80, $3.40 ok (Exacta $11.80), Scarborough EV’s Girl, $2.50, $2.10, Batavia Thirds Dew Can Dew, $6.40, Yonkers Cant Knock Me, $5.60, Monticello Thor, $5.10, Monticello Rick’s Sign, $4.60, Scarborough Linus, $3.80, WoMo Sawyers Desire, $3.20, Hoosier Ellagator, $2.60, Red Mile Stay In Your Place, $2.20, Northfield News & Notes Next week’s Yonkers Trot field is set. It features Hambletonian-winner Forbidden Trade and a few fellas he defeated in the 2019 classic. Hambo-place horse and favorite Greenshoe is not in the cast but Gimpanzee is ready to challenge on his own turf. Other Hambo-Trail cast members are aboard and some other familiar faces are missing. The remainder of the field includes JL Revadon, Livinonthedash, No Drama Please, Osterc, Sheenas Boy and Soul Strong. Trainer Marcus Melander sends Gimpanzee and along with Greenshoe, Green Manalish S is absent. Because of the limited number of horses entering the event, no eliminations were necessary, which is a strong and sad statement concerning the lost glory of a once-classic event. According to Marion Marauder’s trainer, Mike Keeling, the reason the trotter broke in the John Cashman Memorial as his fault. Keeling said it was an experiment to take the trotter’s front shoes off because it was “worth a try … to try and squeeze a little more speed out of him.” The 2019 season has not been representative of the Hambletonian champ who has earned over $3 million in five seasons. Woodside Charm has been retired at three. The two-year-old world record setter by Chapter Seven took a mark of 1:53 last year at Pocono in her Breeders Crown elimination. She earned $521,658 in seven starts at two and became only the second unbeaten frosh-filly trotter to win a division championship. After making two starts at three, trainer Wil Yoder said the trotter has a heart murmur. Connections made the difficult decision to retire the filly. After Woodside Charm came back as a sophomore, Yoder said he felt she was not performing as expected but it took some months for veterinarians to pinpoint the issue. It has been more than a year sans racing, so the return of 2015 Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit to the racetrack on Aug. 20 was a newsworthy event, even if it was only in qualifying action. At Philly, pilot Montrell Teague was up behind Wiggle It Jiggleit and the duo sped away early, cutting fractions of :28.4. :58.1 and 1:26.1 to win in 1:53.4. Here is the TwinSpires harness racing Little Brown Jug top 10 for this week. One note—Bettor’s Wish will be included if and when he wins the Messenger Stakes, which, under the rules, will qualify him to be in the “Jug.” Unlike the “official” Jug top 10, we judge our selections on current performances that may indicate improvements by the September race date, along with our personal probabilities based upon past predictions since the 1980s. 1. Captain Victorious 2. Stag Party 3. Captain Crunch 4. Best In Show 5. Buddy Hill 6. Wild Wild Western 7. Shake That House 8. Yacht Week 9. Proof 10. Shipshape Extraordinary Extras Indulge in our monthly columns, Alternative Actions and Bettors Banquet at Harness Racing Update